San Francisco’s federal judge William H. Orrick—handpicked by Obama like a fine artisanal avocado—has thrown a giant wrench into the Trump administration’s plan to play financial hide-and-seek with “sanctuary” cities. The judge declared that Trump’s attempt to yank federal funds from these jurisdictions is about as constitutional as a three-dollar bill.
Trump’s executive orders, with catchy titles like Protecting the American People Against Invasion and Ending Taxpayer Subsidization of Open Borders, were meant to strong-arm Attorney General Pam Bondi and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem into pinching pennies from cities that don’t salute federal immigration laws.
But Judge Orrick wasn’t having it. He ruled that these orders crash into the Constitution’s separation of powers like a runaway shopping cart, violate the Spending Clause, and even give the Fifth Amendment a bad case of the vapors for being “unconstitutionally vague.” Oh, and they apparently bully local officials into becoming immigration cops, which the Tenth Amendment finds super rude.
The plaintiffs in this legal cage match are mostly California cool kids: San Francisco, Santa Clara County, Monterey County, and cities like Oakland, Emeryville, San Jose, San Diego, Sacramento, and Santa Cruz. They’re joined by Portland (Oregon’s artisanal coffee capital), New Haven (Connecticut’s pizza haven), Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minnesota’s twin troublemakers), Santa Fe (New Mexico’s chili connoisseur), and King County (Seattle’s latte-sipping HQ in Washington). These folks argued that Trump’s fund-freezing threats were causing “irreparable harm,” like budget panic attacks, constitutional heartburn, and serious trust issues with their communities. Orrick nodded and said, “Yeah, that’s a big oof.”
So, with a flourish of his judicial pen, Orrick granted a preliminary injunction faster than you can say “sanctuary showdown.” He told Trump’s team and their “officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys” (basically everyone but the White House janitor) to keep their mitts off federal funds. No withholding, no freezing, no sneaky conditions—nada. He even ordered the administration to spread the word to every federal department by Monday, April 28, probably with a strongly worded email titled “Cease and Desist, Y’all.”
Will the Trump team bounce back with a new plan, or is this the end of their fund-snatching caper?
Leave a Reply